Voyageurs National Park Camping Permits

Summary

Voyageurs National Park offers a variety of camping experiences with its 147 frontcountry, 14 backcountry and 2 primitive sites. Hiking, canoeing, and boat access are available to explore the park's 218,054 acres of forest, 84,000 acres of water, and 655-miles of undeveloped shoreline. Nature enthusiasts can enjoy scheduled programs, boat tours, and star-gazing while discovering historic sites, local attractions, and dispersed campsites.

Overview

Camping reservations for the 2023 summer season become available on November 15, 2022 at 9am CST.

** All frontcountry and backcountry campsites require travel by private watercraft or water taxi to access. Click on campsite names to view boating distances. ** 

Voyageurs National Park has 147 frontcountry , 14 backcountry, and 2 primitive campsites for visitors wanting an authentic northwoods camping experience.  

PRIMTIVE CAMPSITES are the only two campsites in the park that are accessible via trailheads on the mainland and DO NOT require a boat to access. They are hike-in sites along the Kab-Ash trail and are minimally equipped with fire rings and cleared areas for tents. Leave No Trace principles must be used in these areas.

FRONTCOUNTRY CAMPSITES are located on the large lakes (Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan, Sandpoint) and can be boated to directly from any park visitor center boat ramp. They are equipped with fire rings, tent pads, picnic tables, bear lockers for safe food storage, and outdoor privies. Click the Build Itinerary button to plan your frontcountry camping trip. Find more detailed frontcountry camping information and view a campsite map here .
BACKCOUNTRY CAMPSITES are located on the park's interior lakes and offer a more remote and secluded camping experience. They have fewer amenities, consisting of fire rings, an outdoor privy, and some have a bear pole for safe food storage. These sites first require travel by private watercraft or local water taxi service to a trailhead and then hiking up to several miles to the backcountry lakes. Some c ampsites can be hiked to directly while others require a canoe after hiking which are provided by the park and remain stationed at these remote lakes. Find more backcountry camping information and view a map of all backcountry campsite and canoe locations here .
BACKCOUNTRY CANOE RENTAL PROGRAM: Voyageurs offers the ability to rent canoes with a camping permit or for day use at certain backcountry campsites. These canoes stay stationed at the remote inland lakes and require a combination code to access. This information can be found in your confirmation email. Be certain to print your permit within 5 days of your trip start date; it is required to have this with you and it will also contain the necessary code and instructions. Backcountry canoe rentals are available May 15 - October 15 annually. This means that the campsites in the Chain of Lakes and Shoepack Lakes cannot be reached and are closed outside of those dates. Click the Build Itinerary button to plan your backcountry camping trip.  

• Chain of Lakes (Locator, War Club, Quill, Loiten): Reservations at these sites automatically include one canoe because a canoe is required to reach them. Additional canoes are available here on a first come, first served basis. 
•  Shoepack & Little Shoepack Lakes: These come reserved together and automatically include canoes because the canoe on Little Shoepack is required to reach the campsite on Little Shoepack and/or the portage to the Shoepack Lake, which has it's own canoe. 
• Ek, Cruiser, Brown and Peary: These backcountry campsites can be hiked to directly after boating to a trailhead and have an optional canoe located at the site which can be added when making a reservation.
• Agnes, Jorgens, Quarter Line, Oslo, and Ryan: These are campsite-only locations and have no canoes available at them.

DAY USE BACKCOUNTRY CANOE RENTALS: The same canoes available in the backcountry for use with overnight camping can be reserved for day use. This first requires travel by private watercraft or local water taxi service to a trailhead, and then hiking into the backcountry lakes where the rental canoes are stationed. Click on the Reserve Day Use Rentals button or scroll further down on this page to view options.
DAY USE & VISITOR DESTINATION SITES: With 27 Day Use sites and 7 Visitor Destination sites, Voyageurs National Park has plenty of areas to enjoy for visitors who are out for a day trip on the lakes. Each Day Use site has picnic tables, fire rings and vault privies, while the Visitor Destination sites offer short trails with wayside exhibits, picnic areas and comfort stations. No reservations are required for Day Use or Destination sites. View a map of these sites here .    

Keep Voyageurs National Park Wild for Future Generations: The Voyageurs Conservancy is the park's official nonprofit partner representing a community of people who care about the ongoing stewardship of Voyageurs National Park. VNPA works to fund projects and programs that will help sustain the park's waters, wild character, and visitor experience for generations to come. Become a member today , follow them on Facebook and Instagram , or sign up for their e-newsletter .

Recreation

From spring through fall, explore Voyageurs National Park on land by stopping in at a visitor center or hiking any of our 52 miles of scenic hiking trails. To explore the vastness of the same lakes the Voyageurs and Ojibwe Indians once traversed, leave your car behind and explore park waters by kayak, canoe, sailboat, motorboat, houseboat or tour boat. Public boat launch ramps are available at park visitor centers, the Crane Lake ranger station and the two state forest campgrounds - Woodenfrog and Ash River.

With Voyageurs National Park's scheduled programs and boat tours, you can paddle a canoe on the Voyageurs Highway, watch wildlife by day and stars by night, and explore historic Kettle Falls Hotel, Hoist Bay and Ellsworth Rock Gardens. Check the park website for a current list of these activities and many more, or contact a Voyageurs National Park visitor center and speak with an interpretive park ranger. Reservations in advance are highly recommended for boat tours, and can be made here on recreation.gov. 

Facilities

Voyageurs National Park has three visitor centers, which offer area information, exhibits, a park movie, bookstore, Junior Ranger programs, boat ramps, hiking trials and more. All visitor centers are open daily in the summer, and the Rainy Lake Visitor Center operates year-round.

Raniy Lake Visitor Center (218) 286-5258

Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center (218) 875-2111
Ash River Visitor Center (218) 374-3221

Natural Features

Voyageurs National Park is a land and water environment of great beauty, exceptional natural and cultural resources, and abundant recreational opportunities. Located in the lake-country of northern Minnesota, the park protects 218,054 acres that include roughly 134,000 acres of forest, 84,000 acres of water, 655-miles of undeveloped shoreline, and hundreds of islands. The park's 55-mile northern boundary is the international border between the United States and Canada and includes an important segment of the "transcontinental highway" traversed by French-Canadian voyageurs during the late 1700s and early 1800s.

There are four distinct seasons in Voyageur country. The air is temperate during June, July, and August when periods of fine, warm weather prevail. The frost-free season averages 120 days from June to mid-September. The average ice-out date is May 3 but varies year to year. Annual precipitation (rain and snow) averages 25-28 inches in the park and average snowfall ranges from 55-70 inches, but is highly variable. The first measurable snowfall occurs in late October and the last in late April or early May.

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Nearby Attractions

Unique attractions near Voyaguers National Park:

The City of International Falls sits on the U.S.-Canada border, across from Fort Frances, Ontario. You can have a picnic lunch in Smokey Bear Park, and then tour the Bronko Nagurski Museam and Koochiching County Historical Museum, which both sit on site. Don't forget to take a photo with the 26-foot statue of Smokey the Bear himself - a well-known and beloved national symbol of fire prevention and forest conservation. There are many unique businesses and shops along main street, as well as some great coffee shops and restaurants. Heading eastward out of town, you will pass the village of Ranier and numerous resorts where you can find delicious lake-side dining, fishing guides, hotel and cabin accomodations, houseboat rental companies and much more.

The Historic Port Village of Ranier is a quaint little community situated right where Rainy Lake empties into the Rainy River underneath a cantilever-style train bridge that spans from the U.S. into Canada. Here you will find lodging, an RV park, a park and playground, a public beach, public docks, delicous food, an ice cream parlor and a lakeside brewpub, all packed into one small charming town of about 150 residents. Be sure to take a photo with Big Vic, the 25-foot tall statue of a French-Canadian voyageur, who stands at the entrance to this unique little town. 

The entrances to the communites of Kabetogama and Ash River are located about 30 miles south of International Falls, and both serve as gateways to the southern district Voyageurs National Park. Be sure to stop and take a photo of yourself "riding" the walleye statue at the entrance to Kabetogama on Highway 53. 

Charges & Cancellations

CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellations and/or modifications to an existing reservation can easily be made online via your recreation.gov account. Log in to your account, click on your name in the upper right, and select My Reservations. Click on the "Modify or Cancel" button next to the reservation needing to be changed. The national recreation.gov call center at (877) 444-6777 can also assist. You cannot call a park office to cancel a reservation.   

THE FOLLOWING FEES APPLY:

• Reservation system fee of $10 charged at time of reservation is non-refundable
• Any change (i.e. trip dates, campsite) to your reservation more than 3 days prior to your trip: No charge
• Any change (i.e. trip dates, campsite) to your reservation less than 3 days prior to your trip: $10 service fee per 
• Cancel reservation more than 3 days prior to arrival date: additional $10 cancellation fee; receive refund of remaining amenity fees
• Cancel reservation less than 3 days prior to arrival date: additional $10 cancellation fee + forfeit first night’s fee; receive refund of remaining amenity fees
• Once permit has been printed: No refund; printing your permit confirms your reservation and must be done within 5 days of your trip start date from the My Reservations section of your recreation.gov account
• Once trip dates have started: No refund; if you are unable to make your trip, cancel your reservation in the My Reservations section of your recreation.gov account before your trip start date to be eligible for a refund